a tribute
to the life of
Hilley Kristal
and the death of the birthplace of
american punk
6 0 0 2 197 3 e rang nt O e g A 1. s ain phys r B ad ick Mur B . 2 Pop ropk 3. D . Iggymith ortion 4 tti S Dist s 5.Pa Socialoy Doll s 6. The T edy ps Kennhe Craml & The 7. d a e l T D e . 8 9. ichard H R 10. doids mones s i o V the Ra Pogue 11. . The 12
“There were hardly any places to play rock and roll in New York in 1974; Max’s Kansas City was closed for almost a year while changing owners. The Electric Circus had closed. The Filmore East closed, and The Mercer Arts Center collapsed (it literally fell down).”
“The Bowery was a drab ugly and unsavory place. But it was good enough for rock and rollers. The people who frequented it didn’t seem to mind staggering drunks and stepping over a few bodies.”
-Hilley Kristal
The filth and fury that was CBGBs was a pure rebellio idealogical movements of the sixt n against the ies. Peace? Fuck you, fight for it. That was CBGBs in a word. Now sit back, shut the fuck up and learn something.
The question most often asked of me? “What does CBGB stand for?” I reply, “It stands for the kind of music I intended to have, but not the kind that we became famous for: COUNTRY BLUEGRASS BLUES.” The next question is always, “but what does OMFUG stand for?” and I say “That’s more of what we do, It means OTHER MUSIC FOR UPLIFTING GORMANDIZERS.” And what is a gormandizer? It’s a voracious eater of, in this case, MUSIC.
The beginning of CBGB’s came early on. I was on a ladder in front of the club fixing the awning in place, when I looked down to notice three scruffy dudes in torn jeans and T shirts looking up at me inquisitively. “WHAT’S GOIN’ ON?” or something of that nature, was the question they asked. They were Tom Verlaine, Richard Hell, and Richard Lloyd, three of the four members of “Television.” A few days later, Terry Ork, Television’s manager came around to try and get the band a gig.
I thought the band was terrible; screechy, ear-splitting guitars and a jumble of sounds that “I just didn’t get.” I said, “ NEVER AGAIN!!!” After much cajoling and haranguing, however, Terry Ork persuaded me to let them play again with another “hot’ new rock group from Forest Hills, Queens. They were called “The Ramones. Terry said that the Ramones had a big following and the combination of the two bands will make a great show. I thought, “What the hell, what do we have to lose!!?....Ha!” Well the anticipated night came, and there weren’t many more people than before. As for the Ramones, they were even worse than Television. At that first gig at CBGB, they were the most untogether group I’d ever heard. They kept starting and stopping-equipment breaking down- and yelling at each other. They were a mess
Hilley Kristal 1931-2007
CBGB’S 1973-2006
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